Other Voices

Reform Food Stamps for Good Nutrition

The Agriculture Department should reform the food-stamp program to permit beneficiaries to purchase only high-nutrient foods.

Since President Barack Obama took office in January 2009, food-stamp spending has more than doubled, to roughly $80 billion a year, and the number of recipients has risen 70%, to 47 million. But the Obama administration and congressional Democrats are hitting the panic button over a scheduled phaseout of special benefits enacted to fight the last recession.